Sep 9, 2010
Rental scam: Man jailed
By Elena Chong
AN UNEMPLOYED man was packed off to prison for six months on Thursday for his cheating two foreigners in a rental scam. Chow Kong Weng, 35, pleaded guilty to cheating technician Harinarayanan Logaraj, 26, an Indian national, of $2,600 and Chinese national Zhang Ke Jun, 29, of $2,000 over a Sengkang flat which he claimed was for rental in 2008. The offences were committed with two women, Chan Fung Ling, 31, and Hoo Mei Po, 39, who acted as witnesses to the tenancy agreements.
Chan has since been dealt with but Hoo's case is at pre-trial conference stage. The court heard that in July 2008, the trio came up with a scam to obtain fast cash from several victims through rental deposits and advance rental fees. They had no intention to rent the unit to victims. The proceeds of the scam were shared among them to pay off their respective debts.
